In 1899, Mark Draham, founder of the Mason County Logging Company, left that company and incorporated Western Washington Logging Company. This company, in turn, evolved into the Mud Bay Logging Company in 1910. Mud Bay Logging Company operated in the area west of Olympia until 1941.

Mud Bay is a bay at the head of Eld Inlet four miles west of Olympia in northwest Thurston County. Oyster beds in the bay once produced the famous Olympia oysters. At low tides the name is very descriptive.